Full Day- Essential Seoul City Tour & Gourmet Tour(including Lunch and Dinner)

based on 56 reviews

Duration:9 hours (approx.)
Location: Seoul, South Korea

From $289

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You can enjoy both city tour and Gourmet Tour. We will visit the most popular tour attractions like Gyeongbokgung palace, Changing ceremony of the Royal Guards, Bukchon Hanok Village, Insadong and etc. You will experience handcraft making, Hanbok wearing and etc.. For tasting of Korean foods, we will visit not a group tourist restaurants but famous quality local restaurants, and taste Jinseng Chicken soup at the popular restaurants for lunch. For vegetarian, there are nice vegetarian restaurant. This restaurant is famous enough to have more than ten minutes of queuing lines always. During the tour, we also enjoy Korean snacks or tea. For dinner, we will taste various kinds of street foods at Kwangjang market. For all above mentioned tour activities and foods are included in our tour and you don't need to reserve separate tickets for city tour and food tour. Through this combined tour with professional licensed English speaking guide, you will feel Korean's life, culture and heritage.

WHAT'S INCLUDED

WHAT TO EXPECT

1. Gyeongbokgung Palace
Gyeongbokgung palace is the first palace built in 1395 out of five palaces in Seoul in Joseon dynasty. This palace was built by fenhshui which is a traditional geological theory, The name of Gyeongbokgung palace means new dynasty would have big blessing and prospered forever. Geunjeongjeon Hall and Gyeonghoeru Pavilionare are national treasures in the palace, Geunjeongjeon Hall is the main building of the palace, most of major event like king’s inauguration ceremony and reception of ambassadors from foreign countries were held at this building. Gyeonghoeru Pavilion was used for the purpose of banquet and entertainment. Before tour of Gyeongbokgung palace, we will watch the Changing ceremony of Royal guards. Gyeongbokgung palace and changing ceremony of royal guard are closed on every Tuesday, so we will visit the other royal palace, Changdeokgung palace, every Tuesday. Changdeokgu palace is very beautiful palace and is listed on UNESCO cultural heritage.
2. National Folk Museum of Korea
You will see how the Korean lived from the birth to grave at this museum.The National Folk Museum of Korea is a museum that represents daily life and culture of Korea and is visited by more than two million people every year, and provide educational and cultural opportunities to better understand and experience the traditional Korean lifestyle.
3. Bukchon Hanok Village
Bukchon(buk means north, chon means village) is a traditional residential village forming with Korea’s traditional house, Hanok(Tiled roof house). As you see, because of rapid industrialization of Korea, most Korean live in apartment and modified western style house, so it is very hard to see the traditional Korean Hanok village nowadays. This Bukchon Hanok village is one of traditional villages maintaining traditional Hanok style. Because this Bukchon was near the palace, and located at a good place according to fengshui, a theory of divination based on topography, this was a good residential area for royal family and high officials for 500 years of Joseon dynasty. Nowadays, Bukchon is one of famous tourist attraction in Seoul. Tourist can enjoy and feel the history of Bukchon , various cultural experience like tea ceremony, calligraphy, handcrafts and etc. at Bukchon.
4. Jogyesa Temple
Jogyesa Temple is located in central Seoul and it is one of Korea's major Buddhist temples, also serves as headquarters for the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, the largest sect of Korea Buddhism. The temple's main hall is called Daeungjeon Hall and the famous statue of the seated Buddha is enshrined here (the statue is Tangible Cultural Heritage of Seoul No. 126). Baeksong, a white pine tree that is more than 500 years old stands next to Daeungjeon. Located in the heart of Seoul, huge numbers of tourists visit the temple to experience Buddhist culture.
5. Insadong
Insadong is a traditional cultural place where you can see old Seoul. Originally, the government office in charge of paintings on king and royal family in Joseon Dynasty was located at Insadong. The streets of Insadong are lined with craft workshops, antique shops, galleries, and restaurants, traditional hanok style’s teahouse. Seoul city designated Insadong as street of traditional culture in 1988, and the first cultural place in 2002, This area is car free zone every weekend, so you can enjoy walking with shopping, cultural experience like making some handcrafts. And you can enjoy various events like musical performance. Samjigil is one of the place which you can feel Korea’s traditional handcrafts. During the tour at Insadong, we can taste refreshment.
6. Kyung-In Museum of Fine Art
You will visit Dawon Traditional Tea Garden in Kyung-In Museum of Fine Art in a hanok (traditional Korean house) and enjoy traditional Korean Tea, this place offers the visitors a moment to relax and find peace in the city. When seated, greenery and flowers in the private garden make for a nice view while sipping tea. There are more than 15 homemade teas available, all of which originate from Korea. Dawon's peaceful atmosphere and authentic experience make it a must visit for anyone in Seoul. The unique charm of the tea house is made up of antique furniture.
7. Cheonggyecheon Stream
Cheonggyecheon is a 11 km-long waterway flowing center of downtown Seoul. This waterway was natural stream until Joseon dynasty. After Korean war, many refugees made their houses and lived there, so this area was a typical slum and very dirty with bad smells there. Later 1950, Cheonggyecheon was covered with cement structures and automobile overpass was built over there, and many modern buildings were built at surrounding area, so this place became a successful symbol of Korea industrialization. But, after 40 years passed, the structures and overpass became obsolete and dangerous, and so city government decided to restore the place as Eco-stream. This was changed to Eco-waterway through 2 year's restoration project. Total length of restoration is 5.8km, there are 22 bridges, and 50,000 visitors a day. Cheonggyecheon became a symbol of the rapid development of Korea and major tour attraction place nowadays.
8. Baek In-je's House
Baek In-je House is a museum and cultural heritage site located in Bukchon Hanok Village. The house is a well-preserved as hanok(Hanok means traditional Korean house). The hanok was built on an elevated plot of land and there are incredible views of Bukchon Hanok Village from the house. There is also a spacious garden. The hanok is one of the few largest remaining hanok in the city, and because of its unique history and beauty, the hanok was designated a Citizens' Cultural Heritage site and converted into a museum. Closed on every Monday.
9. Kwangjang Market
Kwangjang market is Korea’s first commercial market. This market opened in 1905. Originally, Namdaemun market was the biggest traditional market until early 1900s, but Japanese occupied Namdaemun market by Japanese’s invasion to Korea, so Korean merchants opened Kwangjang market for Koreans in 1905 to compete Japanese Namdaemun market. In the early of this market, major products were agricultural products, but nowadays, there are many kinds of products including fashion items, especially Gwangjang market has become famous as eating place to taste various street foods at cheap price. From about 10 years ago, many foreigners began to visit this market and became famous. This market is one of the famous tourist attractions in Seoul. The typical street foods are Kimbap, Soondae, Nokduejeon(Korean pancake made with mung beans), Yukwhe(beef sashimi)and etc.. we will taste various kinds of street foods for dinner here.

ADDITIONAL INFO

CANCELLATION POLICY

Posted By : M6576BIcarolinef
Knowledgeable and friendly guide. The tour was a little rushed at times, but we got to see and experience a lot of Seoul. Our dietary requirement were catered to.
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2024-03-24 21:02:02

Posted By : MichaelT7643
Our tour guide Bergen Park was so kind and helpfull on our tour he explains everything and it was so fun defeinitely will be back and get Bergen again
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2024-02-15 22:41:14

Posted By : Isabel_A
An exceptional tour! In just one day, I gained extensive knowledge about South Korea and its rich history. Bergen, our guide, was incredibly hospitable, even changing the meeting location to accommodate my first-time nerves about using public transport. I felt well taken care of throughout the day, enjoying delicious meals and excellent guidance. I highly recommend this tour for anyone eager to explore Seoul! Thank you will definitely be coming back.
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2024-02-12 20:36:53

Posted By : Karen_B
I had a full day Seoul tour in Seoul with Bergen Park. What a great guide Bergen is! He is enthusiastic, friendly, knowledgeable and fun to be with. He not only took me through the days itinerary, but also provided a lot of detail through his narrative of the tour sights. He injected a personalized feel to the tour and shared so many interesting facts and explained Korean culture and customs so well.

Highlights were seeing the changing of the guard at the palace, ginseng chicken soup at a Michelin restaurant, traditional tea at Korean traditional tea house that we would never be able to find on our own, and having as much delicious street food like mung bean pancake and Korean rice wine, makgeolli, at Gwangjang Market as we could eat, including getting to meet the Netflix noodle lady while enjoying freshly prepared dumpling and knife cut noodles. I usually do not expect much of the food and drink quality in lunch/dinner included tours, but this tour well exceeded my expectations.
Thanks to your expertise and excellent communication, I was able to get knowledgeable answers to my many questions and truly learn about Korean history and culture. Thank you, Bergen, for sharing your time with me! You’ve given me beautiful memories of South Korea to carry home with me, and you will always be an essential part of them! By the end of the day, being a solo traveller, I felt like I had made a new friend. I hope to see you again when I will visit korea with my family in November.
I highly recommend following this tour and Bergen Park to all those who have the interest of discovering the true face of Seoul and look for the best guide, starting from the story up to the present day. Bravo Bergen!
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2024-02-04 22:43:53

Posted By : Kim_F
This one day tour was amazing! Our guide, Bergen Park, showed us so much of Seoul, he taught us about customs & traditions, and took us to delicious restaurants! Highly recommend!!!
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2024-01-14 18:23:11

Posted By : yohana120315
Positives:
- English speaking guide
- comfortable vehicle
- punctual
- safe driving
- visited all places listed

Negatives:
- tour guide tried to save money however possible
1) at one of the palace visit, he tried to get us both inside with only one ticket and we were stopped at the door. Very embarrassing. Had to end up going back in line to buy the second ticket.
2) at the markets, he only bough food for one and had to stare with each other. So your price won’t include food for one but rather half.
3) tasting means you sampling the food vendors have in bowls in front of their tent. What you pay for the tour won’t include you buying food you want to try. I asked for a non alcoholic drink, since it was not in the itinerary I could tell he was upset because it was not in the itinerary.
4) during restaurant dinner, he touched my food with bare hands. This might be cultural but I am picky of people touching my food.
- we walked into a small shop and the lady told him to not touch the merchandise to avoid breakage and he started screaming at the lady nonstop on their native language. As he didn’t want me to understand. I could see the lady being very sad and embarrased. He did not stop until I finished paying and walked away. This made me uncomfortable. I also felt bad for him bulling the lady for doing her job.
- I was looking around as he was talking to see the scenery and he kept touching me, my arm, my belly… pocking me to look at him when he was talking. I didn’t have personal space. This might be another cultural thing but I don’t like being touched.
- there wasn’t much explanation on things/ places we visited. He mostly wanted to talk about America and asked me many personal questions.

Overall, it was very convenient and efficient to have someone drive you around. Reduced stress. But I didn’t feel I got the most for my money. Most places the entrance was free, the restaurant food was on average $23 for 2 people, parking was less than $2 for 30 min.
If you don’t mind planning yourself, it would be about half the cost of paying for a guide.
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2023-12-02 17:28:11

Posted By : Caroline_D
Shawn was a great tour guide and was able to show us both the more traditional and modern sides of Seoul. The food was fantastic as well.
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2023-11-30 01:41:10

Posted By : Ricky_C
John is a very friendly, helpful and knowledgeable guide who has made our one-day visit in Seoul very enjoyable. Highly recommended.
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2023-10-02 22:24:41

Posted By : Isaac_R
Our tour guide was Shawn and he was awesome. Great tour guide and great person in general. If you only have time for one tour, this is the one. We saw so many things and tried different foods. It truly is an essential tour.
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2023-08-31 23:11:18

Posted By : Marla_A
Our guide Bergen picked us up at our hotel right on time. Our day was full of Seoul highlights and we learned so much!
Bergen was very good at explaining everything and we saw many highlights of the city that we never could have accomplished ourselves. The lunch stop, afternoon tea house and dinner at the market were all memorable experiences.
It was a great first day in Seoul…stress free and a perfect start to our week.
Rating : full ratings
Posted On : 2023-07-01 07:41:12